Book helps Westfield remain unbeaten
NOBLESVILLE — Nic Book’s introduction to Indiana high school basketball could not have started any better.
The 6-8 New Zealand native, playing his first year in the state after transferring from Oak Hill Academy, is a perfect 11-0 with his Class 4A third-ranked Westfield team. The Shamrocks passed their toughest test to date on Wednesday night with a 58-54 victory at No. 4 Noblesville.
“Indiana I’ve heard has one of the best basketball environments in the country,” Book said. “It’s just a cool experience to have. Coming from overseas, it’s not as big of a deal in New Zealand. Having an environment where everybody loves basketball and they get into the game is something new for me, and I love it.”
Book, a senior, did his part in keeping Westfield unbeaten with seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter in a backand-forth battle between Hoosier Crossroads Conference rivals who were playing a game rescheduled from December due to multiple sicknesses on Westfield’s team.
With the score tied 36-36, Book scored four points on the same possession with 5 minutes remaining to give the Shamrocks the lead for good.
“I thought Nic was really good down the stretch,” Westfield coach Shane Sumpter said. “He picked up two (fouls) early in the half, so we had to sit him a little bit but defensively he’s a force for us and a great player.”
Noblesville (12-2) clawed back to make it 42-40 on a jumper by Aaron Fine with 4:01 to play. But on the next possession out of a timeout, Trey Buchanan found Will Harvey in the right corner for a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to five points. After a Noblesville turnover, Buchanan scored on a drive to make it a seven-point game.
That stretch proved to be a backbreaker for Noblesville, which got as close as 56-52 with 17.7 seconds left. But another turnover by the Millers sealed it for Westfield.
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Buchanan led Westfield with 15 points and Book added 13 points and eight rebounds. But arguably the biggest contribution came from the Harvey, a 5-10 junior who finished with 14 points and made a couple of key plays on defense in the fourth quarter.
Harvey, making his first start with senior Charles Farrell sidelined with a high ankle sprain, is one of the state’s best golfers. Due to his time commitment with golf in the summer, Harvey did not play much basketball with the team until the fall.
“Not touching a ball for about five months definitely hurts,” he said. “But we had a lot of time to get back into it. So after all that, I felt like I was ready to go by the start of the season.”
Book said he heard about Harvey’s ability to knock down shots from the 3point arc.
“They told me he was a great shooter, but I hadn’t seen a whole lot (in person),” Book said. “But coming into the season he had a really hot start and he’s carried it on, which is great to see. It’s great having him on the team.”
Noblesville coach Scott McClelland, whose team had lost only to 4A No. 1 and undefeated Fishers coming into the game, said he was disappointed in his team losing “some of the toughness plays.” The Millers were also just 8for-24 on shots inside the paint, including several shots right around the rim that rolled off.
“I felt like we missed some easy shots the other night against Zionsville,” McClelland said of the Millers’ 62-59 win on Friday. In games like this, against teams like this, every possession matters. That’s coach speak, but it really does. It just kind of magnified it tonight, and then Book made a couple of big plays and hit a couple of tough shots in the second half.”
While Westfield was missing Ferrell, Noblesville was missing one of its key players too due to injury in junior guard T.J. Davidson.
Fine, who went over 1,000 career points last weekend, led Noblesville with 22 points. Sophomore Justin Curry added 13 for the Millers.
“Right now, I think it’s all about us,” McClelland said. “That’s all I’m concerned about. We’re getting outtoughed a little bit and I’m concerned about all these missed shots in the paint. That’s something we have to get corrected.”
Westfield will look to stay unbeaten this weekend with road games at Brownsburg on Friday and Tri-West on Saturday.
“Brownsburg is not a team that we’ve had a tremendous amount of success against, and we have to go to their place,” Sumpter said. “Brownsburg is Brownsburg. They are always good.”
Westfield, now 2-0 in the HCC, can keep pace with Fishers (13-0, 3-0) or possibly take the conference lead with a win on Friday. The Tigers play at Avon.
Though this will be a relatively short Indiana high school basketball experience for Book, he is making the most of it.
“I knew there was tough competition coming into it, but it’s nothing I haven’t faced before,” he said. “I’ve played all over the world. I’ve played in the World Cup and played in the NIBC (National Interscholastic Basketball Conference at Oak Hill). I was expecting tough competition, so I was coming in every game locked in and just ready to play.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.